NKU's Mason Cassady (6) is greeted after scoring a first-half goal.
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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Another night, another victory for the unbeaten Northern Kentucky University men's soccer team.
Mason Cassady (left),
Tommy Barrick and
Nicholas Chiarot all scored goals as defending NCAA Division II national champion NKU cruised to a 3-0 win against William Jewell on Friday night. The top-ranked Norse (5-0 overall, 3-0 Great Lakes Valley Conference) finished with a 23-4 edge in shots and defeated William Jewell in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
NKU has now won 15 straight matches, a streak that began on Oct. 24, 2010, when the Norse posted a 7-1 victory at Maryville. NKU has not lost since Oct. 22, 2010, when Missouri-St. Louis pulled out a 2-1 victory against the Norse in St. Louis.
Cassady gave NKU a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute by sending a 20-yard shot past William Jewell goalie Justin Schmidt into the back of the net.
Brodie Steigerwald was credited with the assist on Cassady's first marker of the season.
Barrick struck in the 67th minute by finishing off a cross from eight yards out to give NKU a 2-0 lead. Chiarot capped the Norse scoring in the final minute by knocking in a rebound shot that was set up by
Michael Holder on a breakaway.
Holder's shot hit the post and Chiarot followed with the rebound goal.
“William Jewell is a very good team, and they made the NAIA Final Four last year,” NKU head coach
John Basalyga said. “We didn't put enough pressure on them in the first half, and in the second half we stepped it up and forced them to play at a pace they did not want.”
NKU plays host to Rockhurst at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. NKU will also conduct a special ceremony between games of Sunday's doubleheader to honor the men's 2010 NCAA Division II national championship team. The members of that team in attendance will receive their championship rings on Sunday afternoon.
The doubleheader starts at noon with the women's contest. The ring ceremony will begin at approximately 2:10 p.m., followed by the men's game at 2:30 p.m.
